Collective Exhaustive
by Eyes-of-Pearl
Summary: Gapfiller for 1x10 "Numbers Crunch." They were always aware of the fact that they were not indestructible.  Part II added.
1. Collectively Exhaustive

**Title:** Collective Exhaustive

**Rating**: PG

**Disclaimer**: Person of Interest belong to its respective owners.

**Summary**: Gapfiller for 1x10 "Numbers Crunch." _They __were__ always __aware __of __the __fact __that __they __were __not __indestructible._

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><p>Collective Exhaustive<p>

They were always aware of the fact that they were not indestructible but Reese was very good - for the lack of a better word - at evading whatever resistance that they encountered along the way. But still, the fact remained that the day when fate / reality / the "living world" caught up to them, one or both of them would be caught in the crossfires.

Today of all days when the Machine spit out multiple numbers was undeniably truth that Reese was human after all. What was once a crisp white shirt was now stained with a vivid crimson.

Finch was no physician; he had never experienced a trauma caused by a weapon. His limited exposure to guns was due to necessity from his experience with Reese. But it was evident from the laboured breathing, profuse sweating and every agonizing grunt that the ex-soldier was in dire need of medical attention.

Though Finch was prepared for certain contingencies, he had hoped that he would be in time to warn Reese and to avoid all of this. As such this particular scenario that the bespectacled man had not clearly worked out and a plan had not materialized in the time in which he floored the accelerator and arriving at the parking garage. It seemed that he too was not infallible.

_Harold ... it's not looking good._

_Just get to the ground floor, John. I'm close._

Somehow in this last exchange, they had evolved to John and Harold.

They had started this job contract as a means to prevent crimes and all they had in the beginning was a social security number. But in the end, their lives were unequivocally linked in unexplainable ways. As such, as Finch spared another glance at the backseat, he knew what his next move should be. There was another reason why the Machine chose her number all those weeks ago – Zoe Morgan. She could fix this.

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><p>AN: thoughts?<p> 


	2. Number Theory

See chapter 1 for disclaimers_.  
><em>

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><p><strong>Number Theory<strong>

When one flips a coin, the outcomes of tail and head are said to be collectively exhaustive since the coin must land one of these outcomes. In the grand scheme of things, life and death are collectively exhaustive - one of these events must occur in the span of human existence. But the term is only so practical when applied to the principles of probability. But the human lifeline is much more complex, there is so much more at one's disposal: risk and opportunity, deception and manipulation.

It was this motto that Zoe Morgan chose to live by – if one was going to die anyway, she would take any advantage of any and every shortcuts and back roads that were at her disposal so she did not end up at the front of the line. Thus while some women collected shoes and jewellery, Zoe's biggest dealings were with favours and contacts.

One of her latest encounters was with John who had played an influential part of her life but just as quickly, he had disappeared. But she didn't do what she did for a living without knowing her way around the world. So when she heard that the NYPD had a certain interest in a man in the suit, her interest was piqued. When more men in suits started to prowl the precinct, there was definitely more heightened intrigue.

But at the moment, she was in between various projects, so she simply filed those under her 'to-do' list. However, her memory was long so when she received a desperate call from a voice who identified himself as a 'concerned third party' regarding a John, she realized that there was a certain honour in upholding the principle of a life for a life.

She had encounters with a religious foreign dignitary who modelled his private jet to the American Presidential Air Force One which was equipped with its own in-house surgical room. She had retrieved and then disposed some incriminating evidence about certain sexual activities that are frown upon by conservative countries. In return, she was able to relay to John's "invisible friend" about rendezvousing at JFK.

"I don't need to emphasize that discretion is key, Ms. Morgan but medical attention cannot be delayed."

If this concerned third party was anything liked the elusive John, then she was expecting this to be a gross understatement. But her job was to fix things and not to over-interpret, still she could not help but wonder how he ended up in the radar of the NYPD and government suits.

**.poi**

In mathematics, permutation describes the arrangement of objects in a particular number. When applied to the arrangement of numbers to form a series of nine digit numbers like a person's social security numbers, then the answer will be ten to the power of 10.

But unlike the world of numbers, life was about setting restrictions and boundaries. Certain numbers were never assigned while others were reserved. But still, there were still a virtually countless number of possibilities and for the Machine to pick one with some sort of significance ...

When the idea of creating an algorithm to sort out raw material, it was done for the purpose of protection. Parameters were set to detect threats that were deemed to relevant. Those that did not match the criteria were erased at the end of each night because in accordance with the principle of collectively exhaustive, there was life and there was death. One of these outcomes would always happen until the Machine detected anomalies.

John Reese was one of those. In statistics, he would be termed an outlier – a data point that did not fit the general strand. In their short partnership, Finch found enough evidence to support this despite what was said in various reports that Finch was able to obtain in his research.

"He got several bullets in him, but he was conscious enough to ask how you were."

Finch looked up to address Zoe Morgan who looked enough impeccable despite the odd hour on which they descended upon her.

"Oh?"

"So are you? He was concerned – I believe his exact words were 'Look after my invisible friend there; he shouldn't have come."

Finch did not have an immediate reply to this and Zoe decided to push on to fill the silence. " My contact here is good, the surgeon has experience with gunshot wounds before. He has already made his prognosis that bearing any complications, John should make a full recovery. "

At this, Finch felt himself visibly relaxed. "I do want to thank you, Ms. Morgan."

"You know if there is one thing in life that I always remember is that everything comes with a price. I know that the suits have some vested interest in John. Word gets around, but then again, they weren't exactly subtle either. As his friend, you need to know the risks and benefits as well."

"And what's in it for you?"

"Lives don't exist in parallel to each others. Certain events are not mutually exclusive, I'll have to trust somebody at some point. In the meantime, do me a favour and stay out of trouble."

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><p>AN: thoughts?<p> 


End file.
